SOUND ON SOUND
The British-made single-oscillator monosynth is unashamedly retro in both its knob-laden styling and its lack of MIDI. Paul Nagle gets orgon-ised.
Paul White plugs in the smallest compressor he has ever encountered, and finds that there's nothing small about the sound.
Drawmer's 1960 series leaps into the digital age with the launch of the 1962, which combines a specially designed low-noise preamp, variable tube coloration and audio-sweetening tools with an optional 24-bit output stage. Paul White celebrates the year of the tube.
Roland's SC88 could be described as a Rolls-Royce in the world of General MIDI sound modules. So is the new upgraded SC88 Pro a luxurious stretch limo complete with mini-bar and luxuriant walnut veneer? Derek Johnson dons his chauffeur's cap and takes it for a drive...
The modest £399 price tag on Yamaha's latest dedicated reverb belies the quality and controllability the unit offers. Hugh Robjohns thinks it's up there with the best.
Paul White studio tests the Crimson C3021 to see how favourably it compares with its indigo counterparts.
Thinking of buying a new microphone? Maybe you should consider investing in a dedicated mic preamp instead, to improve the clarity and definition of your recordings without breaking the bank. Dominic Hawken plugs in the mic he likes and checks out the new contender from dbx
This UK-designed and built processor offers two channels of easy-to-use compression and gating for under £200. Paul White's backing Britain.
Although still available to buy new, TC Electronic's 1210 is actually older than much of the gear featured in Retrozone. However, it's not a synth, but an effects processor. Norman Fay explains his deep-seated love of this grizzled veteran among effects.
Paul White tries Emagic's new audio file compression utility while balancing the implications of time and space.
Though Korg have been making some inroads lately, notably with the Prophecy, Roland is still the name to drop in dance circles, so the announcement of a new, analogue-style Roland megasynth stirs the blood like little else.
Paul White lends an ear to Westlake's new nearfield monitors and discovers that they have a distinctively Californian sound.
The Maxi Sound 64 is a new Plug and Play full-duplex soundcard with some pretty tasty features, cooked up by French company Guillemot International. Martin Walker tucks in.
Iomega's removable Zip drive has been a huge success for cost-effective data backup. Now the much larger capacity Jaz, which is fast enough for direct to disk audio use, looks set to continue the Iomega success story. Paul White enters the Jaz age...
How do Steinberg's DSP software plug-ins for their WaveLab software, now at version 1.5, compare with the industry heavyweights? Paul White unearths his nastiest recordings to find out.
I have to admit that I was intrigued when I first saw Circle of Digi Vol 1 at a recent AES show, and the fact that...
Last year saw the proliferation of reliable, fully-featured MIDI + Audio sequencers for the IBM-compatible PC — packages which were previously the preserve of the Apple Macintosh platform. Janet Harniman-Cook takes a look at the three top PC programs in the field to see how their facilities compare.
Do TL Audio's designs stand up without valves, or is it a case of tubeless tires? Paul White endeavours to find out.
Some mic preamps are used for the audible effect they produce on recordings, while others are chosen simply to amplify your mic signals as cleanly as possible. Paul White checks out at the third unit in Focusrite's affordable Green range, and finds a quality mic amplifier that falls into the latter category...
Darius Pocha suggests that one of Roland's 'ones that got away' is an excellent second-hand buy: the S330 sampler. Additional material by Derek Johnson.